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Thanks Stewart for that link. Looks awesome. What did you use for insulation on the inside of the skins? My 185 has all the plastic still installed. It is in good shape for the most part with some cracking starting to happen. I have been considering getting them fixed but then I started to think about the idea of going really light.

I used the foam panels that interlock for floor cushioning in daycare/ preschools. It meets federal fire codes, about a 1/2" thick and spray glued into place under the factory panels . Stuffed pices into the doors. My plane had been sitting in a open grass field for several years so mice etc. got in and it stunk. This foam doesn't make nest for critters also. Stops a lot of vibrations also.

1/4" or 5/16" upholstery foam, not sure. Not rigid but not floppy, either. I got a roll from my local upholstery shop and cut to shape less a little clearance and the shop applied fabric to the foam panels, then I adhered them to the plane. 7 years of outside parking, no sign of any condensation or corrosion issues. I'd do it again the same way. Covering the aft door posts was the only tricky part. The forward wing root covers and door panels (Plane Plastics) are the only plastic parts left, and the door panels got upholstered. I removed the front heat ducts at the firewall and left them out so I didn't need the front knee panels. Some guys upholster those and keep them. I don't miss the ducts.

CAR 3 airplane so I had/have no concerns about part 23 flame resistance requirements.

....I removed the front heat ducts at the firewall and left them out so I didn't need the front knee panels.....

Are you talking about the duct (plenum, actually) that runs horizontally across the firewall?
So the cabin air/heat box just blows through the firewall into the cabin?
Or are you talking about the ducts off the ends of that plenum that are meant to provide rear seat heat?
Maybe you could post a photo?

I have been hearing lots about people doing excellent jobs on stripped down, utility interior looks and I am wondering if people have pictures and examples of great work in this area? Thanks Mark

Lots of photos of modified interiors like you describe on the backcountrypilot.org forum.
Unfortunately they are kinda scattered through the various threads.
Here's a quick google for images, you can click on the photos and select "visit page" to read up on the ones you like.

Here are a couple interior pics from my redo in 2012. That's Selkirk foam on the sides. It's help up well for five years with the exception of a rat that built a nest under one of my seats one week. That little punk chewed on some of the foam but it's not too noticeable until I point it out, and then you'll see it every time!

Removing the window channels, headliner arch hangars, and headliner tooth strips is the most difficult part of the interior mod. Its a great time to replace windscreen and windows but that makes it a more labor intensive and more expensive project.

Here are a couple interior pics from my redo in 2012. That's Selkirk foam on the sides. It's help up well for five years with the exception of a rat that built a nest under one of my seats one week. That little punk chewed on some of the foam but it's not too noticeable until I point it out, and then you'll see it every time!

I did replace the original headliner with an Airtex wool headliner. It looks good, but I think if I had it to do over again I would have just painted the ceiling instead. Flooring is Lonseal Loncoin. I also like it and it protects the floorboards, but it is heavy (15-20 lbs to cover the whole floor). If I did it again, I would consider putting some non-skid down where needed.

Last thing I would have done differently is thought more about cargo restraint. I use the aft seat belt attach points and bought some tie down points that fit on seat rails. But I do not have a floor-to-ceiling net to keep items from coming forward if I go over on my back. I think that's a good capability, even though I don't haul a lot of cargo.

One of these years I'm going to put folding rear seats in, and I might put that cargo net in when I do.

We replaced the interior of our 180 with the selkirk foam last spring, it took about 200 man hours. Interior/rear baggage/headliner was stripped out. The fiberglass insulation had been glued on the top of the black stuff in most places. We have a very nice paint job on the exterior so wanted to avoid any damage to that from chemical paint stripper. So trying to clean up the interior and clean up any corrosion was done with mostly by hand and Scotch Brite ball scrubbier things on a drill. We did not take it all down to bare metal just got rid of all the loose stuff and corrosion. That still took a few days to get done. I figured once we got that taken care of the rest would go pretty easy, I was wrong!! We pulled the plane over to a hot water source and proceeded to scrub down the interior and pretreat any bare metal. We now had one very clean 180 interior. It took two guys 6 hours to tape of the interior/doors for painting (aluminum foil was used to cover fuel lines and cables). A two part epoxy was used as primer, this required a breather mask for the painter along with air supply. Second person on outside had to keep an eye on all the seams and wipe up any bleed through paint (chemical stripper would have done a lot of damage had we used it). Another hour of touch of tape and the Zolatone paint (very thick stuff) went on. I recommend a light color pant or the back will look like a cave.We had cut and prefit all the black foam 1/2 inch for sides and 1/4 for roof. So now it was just glue it in with 3M glue, I would do all 1/2 inch next time it fits much better. We had replaced the extended baggage with an Airglass carbon fiber one. We left in the headliner clips but bent the sharp tip toward the exterior and put in new tiny screws so long hair does not get caught in them. All new door and window seals also. In total we lost around 23 lbs give or take a few. Interior looks pretty much identical to Old Crow's.
It is a lot of work and I am happy with how it looks but if I don't know if I would do it again on a plane with a nice exterior paint job, due to the chemical stripper issue. One of the downsides is if you are going to be working the plane hard and throwing a lot of hard totes and crap in the back the foam can get torn, and will not give your skin the protection a hard plastic interior will. On the upside all the young pilots think it looks good and it does give you more room up front without headliner and side panels. I had the Annual done while everything was stripped out of the plane. The IA loved it!!
Speaking of IA's, BEFORE you just drill or cut out any interior metal pieces, and start spraying a bunch of stuff in the plane, make sure it is OK with him/her.
DENNY

I did a similar interior, but covered the Selkirk foam with Kydex panels, except in the extended baggage. Painted the doors and all interior aluminum trim separately. Kept the fairly recent headliner, since it's in good shape, but I may strip that out later. Put in new Plexi and seals in the doors and replaced the windshield later. Used Loncoin lightweight floor, so that's similar in weight to carpet. Installed a 4 place intercom and 406 ELT at the same time. Paint and Kydex are light grey, floor is dark grey.

That really looks nice on the side walls also. I used the 2'x2' foam floor panels that lock together. The one I used were certified for pre-k schools and were certified burn safe. What I read was it shrunk away from heat source before it could reach temp to burn. Used spray glue and made a Hugh difference in noise inside. I reinstalled the plastic interior over it. I'm thinking of replacing the plastic with Kydex and the rugs with this flooring. Very nice looking job.

…..Last thing I would have done differently is thought more about cargo restraint. I use the aft seat belt attach points and bought some tie down points that fit on seat rails. But I do not have a floor-to-ceiling net to keep items from coming forward if I go over on my back. I think that's a good capability, even though I don't haul a lot of cargo. One of these years I'm going to put folding rear seats in, and I might put that cargo net in when I do.

Some of the guys are using cargo nets made by Mountain Wave--
I've seen them, they're nice but pretty spendy.
I ended up buying one for a lot less money from Safari Straps.https://www.safaristraps.com/cargo-n...ster-cargo-net
Mine's a 23.5" x 23.5" (1" webbing) and cost me $61 plus shipping,
it fits at the forward end of the extended baggage.

My good old Atlee net is about 6' tall and is intended primarily to hang from the aft spar carry-through to fixtures attached to the floor to make a partition behind the front seats. The dog hates it. I can attach it to other fixtures above or below the baggage to secure cargo on the floor, too. Atlee and others sell rings that attach to seat rails. Very versatile.

I added some Mike-made custom Ancra clone plates to floor nut plates in the Cub for the same purpose.

.... Atlee and others sell rings that attach to seat rails. Very versatile.
I added some Mike-made custom Ancra clone plates to floor nut plates in the Cub for the same purpose.

Some Brownline (or clone) mounting pads & rings.
And two home-made seat-rail cargo rings--
a spare "Saf-T-Stop"cut in half and tapped for an eyebolt.
I have BAS jumpseats so plenty of places to put them.
FWIW looks like they sell the saf-t-stops with eyebolts now, instead of thumbscrews.https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...s/saftstop.php

My good old Atlee net is about 6' tall and is intended primarily to hang from the aft spar carry-through to fixtures attached to the floor to make a partition behind the front seats. The dog hates it. I can attach it to other fixtures above or below the baggage to secure cargo on the floor, too. Atlee and others sell rings that attach to seat rails. Very versatile.

I added some Mike-made custom Ancra clone plates to floor nut plates in the Cub for the same purpose.

Even if you don't like them for seat locks, the eyebolt-equipped Saf-T-Stops make for good cargo rings.

Somebody used to make a seat track lock which had an over-center lever sort of arrangement--
although spendy, that looked like it might be the way to go.
Don't recall seeing them offered lately though.